![\"Tom](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/9922fdba535ea5469e4273740b7932cdf26fe65c.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n\u201cFor us, it\u2019s just a bit of a pinch-me moment. It\u2019s just like, wow, what an experience, what a story. To be honest, the kid from Canberra didn\u2019t think this was possible,\u201d Staniforth says.<\/p>\n
\u201cMe and my wife have talked about it, and I guess this is the gift of rugby. To move to France and play in France, to build a life here. It\u2019s not lost on me how lucky we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tom Staniforth poses for a photo after moving to the Waratahs in 2018.Credit: Peter Braig<\/p>\n
Staniforth played for Australian underage sides and debuted for the Brumbies in 2014, as a considerably leaner young man. He became a popular figure at the club, and then the Tahs as well after a move in 2018, and was known as a hardworking figure in the engine room.<\/p>\n
He never pinged on the Wallabies\u2019 radar, though, and when an opportunity to play in France in mid-2020, Staniforth\u2019s gut told him it was the right move. He\u2019d extended his contract with NSW earlier in the year but activated an exit clause amid the chaos of COVID.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really enjoyed my time in Aussie,\u201d Staniforth says. \u201cBut I was like 26, just married, and thought a chance to go over to Europe and live and play, that was too good to pass up. I\u2019d been in Super Rugby for eight years and thought I had tried there, and it wasn\u2019t going to pan out.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Wallabies wasn\u2019t going to pan out?<\/p>\n
\u201cNah, it was just more I got the feeling that Super Rugby wasn\u2019t for me. It\u2019s a faster game. And obviously having watched a bit of Europe on YouTube and stuff, I just thought that playing Europe would suit me better,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Hand, meet glove. After years of trying to play at 115 kilograms or less, Staniforth was encouraged to bulk up to 125kg at Castres, and now with a \u201chappy mix\u201d of a Super Rugby-forged engine, size and a valued skill set, he quickly became a leading second-rower in the Top 14 competition.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way they play the game, more forward-orientated, more contact, you can be bigger. For me personally, it\u2019s just a better type of rugby,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd French rugby is absolutely phenomenal. Castres, we have 40,000 in our town, so it\u2019s like Goulburn, and our stadium holds 12,500. It\u2019s full every week. When we come to the stadium, there\u2019s flares, there\u2019s people lining the streets. It\u2019s mad.\u201d<\/p>\n
French rugby loves a big forward \u2013 and it became besotted with Staniforth. Over the last five years, he has become known as one of the hardest-working players in not only France, but also Europe.<\/p>\n
In the 2021-22 season, stats showed he had the most carries (both one-out and pick-and-drive) in all the world\u2019s big four leagues (Top 14, Premiership, URC, and Super Rugby), and he was also the Top 14\u2019s best tackler, too. With future Wallaby (and another Canberra kid) Nick Champion de Crespigny also in the team, Castres made the Top 14 final. In the 2023-24 season, stats again showed Staniforth was No.1 in the competition for carries, metres after contact and successful tackles.<\/p>\n
Though the closest French term is perhaps \u201cun besogneux\u201d \u2013 a grafter \u2013 Staniforth is an out-and-out workhorse, and the big-hearted Aussie was instantly loved by the supporters of Castres, an industrial town in the south of France.<\/p>\n
And Staniforth loves Castres right back. With wife Marney, the pair have had two kids since moving to France (Parker, 4, and Boston, 2) and Staniforth says they may stay on after rugby.<\/p>\n
But \u201cworkhorse\u201d still fits best for Staniforth, who even resembles a Clydesdale with his giant frame and a flopping blond mane that has grown wilder over the years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey call it a \u2018mulet\u2019,\u201d Staniforth says about his hairstyle. \u201cThe boys think it\u2019s disgusting. But I love it.\u201d<\/p>\n
A broken ankle and foot tendon complications saw Staniforth sit out most of the 2024-25 season; it was so bad Staniforth feared his career could be over.<\/p>\n
But he eventually got back on the park and returned to form. And as his 60-month residency period ticked over last year, Galthie and the French federation made their move: would you play for France if selected?<\/p>\n
![\"Tom](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ca745332d6e16003e2737391d713f9bb3ea8f0f5c01d05698fa5e57693d62a89.png\")
<\/p>\n
Tom Staniforth training with the French squad.Credit: Instagram<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, I said yeah, 100 per cent,\u201d Staniforth said. \u201cBut I didn\u2019t really think that it would happen, with the level of players they have already there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Staniforth\u2019s name was read out in France\u2019s 42-man squad in January, and he has since been in camp with Les Bleus. There have been no jibes about his background \u2013 no doubt policed by the other Aussie in the squad, Sydney-raised Manny Meafou.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re awesome, mate, they\u2019re really welcoming as people, and they accept you for sure. It\u2019s been really cool to go up to Paris and train and see how they do their business,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, the quality of the players they have, training is a really high quality. You\u2019ve still got to be on your A-game because if you\u2019re not, you get found out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Loading<\/p>\n
France are unbeaten in the Six Nations after three rounds, with games against Scotland and England to come. Staniforth\u2019s debut in one of those would likely only come via an injury, but July is a much stronger chance, given the French routinely rest players in that Test window.<\/p>\n
So how would a debut against the Wallabies in Sydney feel? Potentially alongside Meafou?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be super cool, obviously,\u201d Staniforth says. \u201cBut also, that\u2019s three or four months away. And in rugby, I\u2019ve learned over my experience, you just can\u2019t look that far ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo much can happen. Life can be unpredictable.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cFor us, it\u2019s just a bit of a pinch-me moment. It\u2019s just like, wow, what an experience, what…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":508584,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-508583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=508583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508583\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/508584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}